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FRONTEND SOFTWARE FOR
HOME PC-TV THEATER SYSTEMS
FOR HELPING MAKE YOUR SYSTEM
EASY TO USE WITHOUT LETTING
WINDOWS GET IN THE WAY
The myHTPC frontend is freeware that is
in early development but you can use it
immediately to launch your existing software
that you already have for your TV Tuner card.
You can also use your own favorite background
wallpaper as shown in this example screenshot.
To Download the Free myHTPC Frontend
-
After you install a TV Tuner card on your PC and turn your PC into a complete entertainment multimedia center for your home, then you may want make your system look like it is as easy-to-use as is possible without letting Windows get in the way of what you are doing. Your system will still have an operating system like Windows on it, but you may want to hide it by using some sort of "frontend" software interface that works like a "menu" system of sorts that hides the Windows desktop and hides the Windows taskbar from view. When you are watching TV, if there is one thing you may not want, it's the typical Windows interface you may not want to see. So, you may want to install a "frontend" to hide Windows. You can still get to Windows if you want to because the frontend interface acts as a menu on top of Windows. A frontend helps to make your system look more like an elegant easy-to-use entertainment system that is simple and very inviting to use.
People have been making frontends for their PC-TV systems and Home Theater PC (HTPC) systems for some time. Now, Microsoft is getting into the act by providing their own Media Center eHome frontend (with integrated features) in the new Windows XP Media Center Edition. Currently, you can only get that new edition of Windows XP if you buy a new Media Center PC -- the recent news says Microsoft doesn't plan on selling Windows XP Media Center Edition as an off-the-shelf product to users for installation on their existing PCs. If you don't want to buy a whole new PC, you can still have your own frontend for your PC-TV to access all of the multimedia entertainment capabilities that you have built up for your PC-TV system. Install a frontend and then your system (with all of the entertainment capabilities that you have personally built into the system) could rival that of any new Media Center PC running WinXP Media Center Edition.
FREEWARE FRONTEND SOFTWARE
THAT YOU CAN GET FOR FREE
One very excellent free frontend program to consider is the myHTPC Frontend which looks like it could eventually rival the WinXP MCE eHome Media Center frontend. I found the myHTPC frontend to be very stable and can be used right now since you can configure external programs into the myHTPC settings to launch your existing TV software and other multimedia software -- thus making myHTPC into a highly customizable frontend.
The myHTPC frontend is freeware and has
the ability to launch external programs such
as running the "Personal TV" PVR software
for Creative Video Blaster Digital VCR card.
(Click the picture to get the free frontend)
The myHTPC frontend software is in early development, but already has built-in plugin integrated functions for playing video files and music files. There is also early development for a plugin for TV support and there is a new XMLTV-based EPG in myHTPC.
myHTPC now has a built-in integrated EPG
(click the picture for info about the EPG)
You can also use your other software programs for playing video and music if you don't want to use the built-in media player capabilities. You can click here to immediately get myHTPC for free. (NOTE: If you can't get certain built-in integrated functions to work, then you may want to substitute in external programs for any non-working built-in integrated functions that somehow don't work properly for you.) Also, with myHTPC, you can use your Windows wallpaper as the background. (Don't have a Windows wallpaper picture to use as a background? Try a regular search at Google.com - and try a search at images.google.com also.) The highly customizable myHTPC frontend is must-have software for anyone with any type of TV Tuner card.
I've been successfully using myHTPC as a frontend for accessing the TV software for my Creative Video Blaster Digital VCR card to watch regular television and to watch PVR recordings of television shows. In using the myHTPC frontend with a TV Tuner card such as the Creative Video Blaster Digital VCR card, I am using the following specific command to configure the TV software into the frontend software. You may have to use a different command if you are using a different TV card. For the television button (which you can rename), I've put in the following command line:
C:\Program Files\Creative\VideoBlaster Digital VCR\btLaunch.exe
which when pressed turns on the full-screen TV for the Creative Video Blaster Digital VCR card.
Although myHTPC now has a built-in Windows Media Player (WMP) plugin to play video files via the myHTPC frontend, I've been using myHTPC to launch the PowerDVD software to watch exported MPEG2 files made from the Creative Video Blaster Digital VCR card as well as watch DIVX video files made from those exported MPEG2 files on my PC-TV system. (You can also use PowerDVD to play your DVDs and SVCDs.) So, if you don't want to use the myHTPC built-in WMP plugin, then you can use PowerDVD or another video player such as Zoomplayer to watch your video files.
You can use myHTPC to watch your MPEG-2, DIVX, and other
videos files. Here, a MPEG-2 file for a "Birds of Prey" episode
along with other video files are sitting together as a "catalog"
of many video files on a PC harddrive waiting to be watched.
For the video button (you can rename all of the buttons in myHTPC), if you want to have myHTPC automatically launch a particular video player program associated with a particular video file, such as when you are going through a list of video files in myHTPC, then you may want to specify START.EXE or CMD.EXE as the executable program when setting up the player for the button. On my system, I have PowerDVD associated with .MPG and .AVI video files, QuickTime associated with .MOV and .QT video files, and Swiff Player associated with .SWF flash movie files. I prefer using this "generic" video command for watching videos from a list of videos in myHTPC instead of using the built-in integrated Windows Media Player (WMP) plugin that comes with myHTPC since the WMP may not play all types of video files and also since WMP may not use the correct aspect ratio of a video.
You can set up the media module in myHTPC to use
the program associated with a particular extent of a
video file -- such as if PowerDVD is associated with
.MPG and .AVI files, QuickTime with .MOV files, etc.
Depending on your version of Windows, you may
need to use CMD.EXE instead of START.EXE.
Whether you use PowerDVD, some other video player, or myHTPC's WMP plugin, you can use the myHTPC media module to help you set up your very own on-demand immediate-access "catalog" for all of your videos including your MPEG2, DIVX, and other video files on your PC's harddrive(s). And if you are creative enough, you can also set up a "catalog" of your off-line videos which you may have on CDs, SVCDs, or DVDs.
You can set up the media module in myHTPC to
only use Zoom Player for watching video files.
Now, let's look at some tips for using Zoom Player for those of you who are fans of that other video player software. I personally prefer using PowerDVD as it is, but for those who are asking about launching Zoomplayer from myHTPC to play exported MPEG2 files from the Creative Video Blaster Digital VCR card as well as other video files, what you should do is also have PowerDVD already installed on your PC so you can register the DirectShow filters from PowerDVD into Zoomplayer. (You can also register filters from Cineplayer and WinDVD.) Assuming PowerDVD is installed on your PC, go into Options, then into the DVD settings, click the DVD Setup tab, and then select the PowerDVD filters one at a time and click the Register Filters button for each filter that you select. You might have to uncheck the box for "Use System Default" before you can select individual filters. Note that not all of the filters on the list will be on your PC -- so if you are unsure as to what you may have on your PC then go through all of the ones that seem appropriate -- or go through the whole list. If you get an error message, then that means you can't use that filter because all of the files for that filter may not be on your PC. Also, although you may have a button in myHTPC to maximize Zoomplayer when it is launched, you may also want to set up in Zoomplayer to "Remember Windows State On Exit" for when Zoomplayer is run again such as always opening Zoomplayer in full-screen mode where you would have to use the right-click menu to get to the menu controls including toggling the control bar that would have the onscreen control buttons for controlling Zoomplayer.
The Dscaler 4.1.5 (beta) TV software
is launched as an external program
from the myHTPC frontend software
And you can also set up additional buttons for other commands to run other external programs including other software for your TV card as well as your other multimedia entertainment software. For instance, with the myHTPC frontend, I've also put in buttons for commands to run the software for my ATI TV Wonder card, the default software for my WinTV-GO card, the Dscaler TV software for also watching live TV with my WinTV-GO card, and for running DigiGuide which recently became available for U.S. users after having been available in the U.K. (FYI, DigiGuide is available on a 30-day trial basis). So, you can add any type of program you want to the myHTPC frontend -- and if you want to, you can also add an internet browser such as for accessing the online TV schedule listings at TitanTV.
You can set up other external programs to be launched
from myHTPC including this very basic browser which
can be "dressed" up with the background wallpaper
to look like the browser is embedded in myHTPC.
If you want to add an internet browser to the myHTPC frontend, you can use a very basic custom myHTPCbrowser constructed by Ruel to match the look-and-feel of the myHTPC frontend. You can use any wallpaper background to customize myHTPCbrowser to match what you may be using in myHTPC. There is no need to cut up your wallpaper graphics which is what you have to do with other custom browsers such as with the Media-NET Browser which was one of the inspirations for myHTPCbrowser (thanks, Kmallick2000). All you will have to do is substitute in your own wallpaper background picture file without the need to cut it up. And that makes myHTPCbrowser look like it is embedded in as a part of myHTPC. So, if you want this weblication, you can click here to get myHTPCbrowser to add a browser to the myHTPC frontend.
And if you want another browser, go check out Webbrowse -- you only need to download webbrowse.exe and webbrowse.ini -- which is a fullscreen browser similar to kiosk mode in Microsoft Internet Explorer (thanks again go to Kmallick2000). Two basic commands you will need to know for Webbrowse is that you press your ESCape key to exit Webbrowse and that you press your CTRL key to get the addressbar to type in a URL.
You can use an onscreen virtual keyboard like
MountFocus onscreen keyboard with myHTPC
and myHTPCbrowser when surfing the web.
Also, if you want to have an onscreen keyboard to type in website addresses in the browser's addressbar just like can be done with MSNTV-WebTV and AOLTV (two set-top boxes with integrated internet browsers for TV), then if you have Windows XP or Windows 2000 then try using the built-in windows onscreen keyboard which is included as an accessibility option for windows, or you can try the free Click-N-Type onscreen keyboard software, or you can also try the excellent $15 shareware MountFocus runtime onscreen keyboard software (scroll down the MountFocus page, look for the "Runtime" link to get the 30-day trial version of the onscreen keyboard). Note that for the MountFocus onscreen keyboard, there is a "Min" button to minimize the keyboard and that button is immediately below the Page Down key on the onscreen keyboard.
There will be a small "Max" button in the lower right-hand corner of the screen that you can click to restore the MountFocus onscreen keyboard. (Note: In comparison, the WinXP / Win2K onscreen keyboard doesn't have this handy "Max" button when the keyboard is minimized, but the Click-N-Type onscreen keyboard has an up / down command.) There is also a "Move" button and "Close" button by the "Min" button on the MountFocus onscreen keyboard -- you can press the "Move" button so you can move the keyboard around the screen.
You can configure myHTPC to launch the onscreen
virtual keyboard with the browser at the same time.
(Be sure to include the quotation marks for at least
the command line to launch the onscreen keyboard.)
Also note that prior to alpha release 11 of the myHTPC frontend, you may need to use a .BAT file in order to launch the MountFocus onscreen keyboard from myHTPC. More recent versions of myHTPC should not require the .BAT file. However, if you are having problems launching the MountFocus onscreen keyboard, then you can click here for an example KEYBOARD.BAT file that you can use when setting up a button in the myHTPC frontend (note: be sure to remove the .TXT extent when saving the .BAT file to your harddrive). If you use the .BAT file, you may want to set that command line to minimize the window that would be running the .BAT file.
This screenshot is a scrolled view of the middle of
a webpage for TV schedule listings at TitanTV with
the browser fonts made larger for easier viewing.
(See next paragraph for info about how to make
the browser fonts larger for easier reading.)
If you are using a conventional television set as a monitor connected to your home PC-TV system, then you may probably want to make the browser fonts (the size of the text) look larger so that they are easier to read on the TV set. You will have to go into Internet Options. You can go into Microsoft Internet Explorer and then click Tools and then go into Internet Options. Or you can go into the windows Control Panel and then click Internet Options. Then on the General tab, click the Accessibility button and then check "Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages." Then in Microsoft Internet Explorer, click View, Text Size, and then select the Largest size you want. You may also want to go into the windows Control Panel, go into Display Properties, go to the Settings tab, click the Advanced button, and then change the Display Font Size from 96 dpi to 120 dpi (you would be changing from "Small Fonts" to "Large Fonts"). These settings may probably mess up the formatting on a webpage and may look ugly on a PC monitor, but they may help you to see text better on a conventional TV set when surfing the internet. Also note that these settings will only work with actual text and will not help if there are words or letters within a graphic.
myHTPC can play your MP3 music albums by
using either the Windows Media Player plugin
or the WINAMP2 plugin for myHTPC. With the
built-in Windows Media Player plugin, you can
pick individual songs or whole albums to play.
You can use the built-in Windows Media Player (WMP) plugin for myHTPC to play your MP3 music in the myHTPC frontend where you can select whole albums to play or you can select a bunch of different songs from different albums to play in sequence. (FYI, I personally think that WMP is better for playing MP3 music in myHTPC instead of using WMP for video.) You will also get the WMP visualizations that you can watch on the screen -- or you can go into the myHTPC picture module to play a slideshow of the digital pictures you have on your PC system. FYI, when you are in WMP, you will have to use the backspace key command to get back to myHTPC.
You can view your digital pictures and
digital photos in the myHTPC frontend
using its built-in integrated slideshow.
If you don't want to use the myHTPC built-in WMP plugin to play your MP3 music, then you can instead use a different media player such as the popular Winamp 2 program. myHTPC comes with a plugin for using Winamp 2 to play MP3s selected from within myHTPC. Winamp 2 will be minimized from view when used in this manner and you will be able to use the buttons in myHTPC to control Winamp 2 such as to play, stop, next, previous, and mute. For the music section of myHTPC, I've also added an additional button for volume which accesses the windows Volume Control panel found at: C:\WINDOWS\SNDVOL32.EXE (the actual filename may be different with your version of windows).
(Note that you can also simply launch Winamp 2 or Winamp 3 as an external program without automatically playing any selected MP3s and in that situation Winamp will appear on the screen. For those who asking about how to make Winamp look much larger, you can do a Ctrl-D to double the size of the Winamp player. To make the Winamp playlist larger for version 3.x of Winamp: Again do a Ctrl-D to the double the size of the Winamp playlist. But for version 2.x of Winamp, in order to make the Winamp version 2.x playlist larger, do the following: Do a Ctrl-P to get into Preferences where in the tree under Options/Display change the Playlist font size, then resize the Playlist by pulling the lower right corner of the Playlist, and then you may want to drag Winamp to the center of the screen. For Winamp skins, I personally like the Sumea.Amp skin for Winamp 2.x.)
You can set up Buttons in the myHTPC Frontend
to tune to internet radio stations using Winamp
to access shoutcast-compatible radio stations.
You can also set up a "radio" section in myHTPC with buttons for internet radio stations using Winamp to tune into the internet radio stations. Search the internet for shoutcast-compatible radio stations and also go to Shoutcast.com to get URL addresses for individual radio stations to use for buttons in myHTPC. You may also want to set any radio station buttons to "Show Window" as hidden.
You can check the weather by using the
myHTPC frontend (the weather data is
from weather.interceptvector.com).
And for those folks who don't have an always-on cable modem or DSL and who are asking about how to put a modem dialer button (for a dial-up 56k modem) in myHTPC: Make a shortcut for a dialer in windows and then put the file location address (in quotation marks) for that shortcut in the configuration settings for a button. (Prior to alpha release 9 of myHTPC, you previously had to precede the shortcut command with the word START or CMD, but beginning with alpha release 9 you should no longer have to precede the command with the word START or CMD.)
You can check the weather radar map via
the myHTPC frontend. The weather radar
map can be from a URL that you choose.
If you are using a Windows PC-TV HTPC system, then you should definitely get the free myHTPC frontend software. CLICK HERE If You Want To Go To
myHTPC's New Download Home
If you are asking if there are any other free frontend software programs, well, there are a few other free frontends including Talisman HTPC Interface, Reflex Engineering's HTPC Interface, Media Engine, Binary Metal's Digital Theater (freeware verison 1.5), XONE Media Center, Media-Box, Music Jukebox Home Entertainment Center (Music & Slideshow only), PC Magazine's Media Console, TVPC's CouchClick TV, Freevo (linux), MythTV (linux), and Linux4.TV's WebMedia Set-Top Box GUI (linux). Note that Media Engine was originally designed by in-car computer system enthusiasts. Also note that TVPC's CouchClick TV seems to be a hungry memory resource hog. And note that Media-Box seems to be no longer in existence. If you are running linux and are able to get a TV card working, then Freevo or MythTV may be the frontend for you because they appear to be well-integrated frontends -- and the WebMedia Set-Top Box GUI may also be something else you may want to look at.
COMMERCIAL
FRONTEND SOFTWARE
There are also the commercial frontend software programs if you want to spend a few bucks -- including the commercial frontends that include built-in integrated functions. The commerical frontend software programs include Meedio which is the new commercial version of myHTPC, Beyond Media Basic which is included with the Firefly remote control, Home Media Networks' Showshifter , Cinemar's Mainlobby , 4am Media Console, Snapstream, Binary Metal's Digital Theater Interface (new commercial version), and J.River's Media Center. And yet another commerical product with built-in integrated functions worth mentioning is for the folks in Europe who may want to check out the PalmButler which comes with a remote control and PC transmitter device. If you are interested in any of the commercial Frontend software programs, please be aware that they may NOT be able to directly work with all TV Tuner cards unless if they are WDM-compliant (not all TV Tuner cards are WDM-compliant, or they use a different WDM driver, or they use a VfW driver).
And then there are the other commercial frontend software programs that will be packaged with Nvidia-type cards and MSI-type cards including the Nvidia Forceware Multimedia application and the MSI Media Center Deluxe II software.
As an alternative, if you want to have only one frontend for your TV Tuner card, then you may want to consider using the previously mentioned freeware software such as the free myHTPC frontend in order to launch the default existing TV software for your TV Tuner card before looking at the commercial Frontend software programs.
USE A FRONTEND AS "WALLED GARDEN"
TO CONTROL YOUR PC-TV MULTIMEDIA
ENTERTAINMENT ENVIRONMENT
Which frontend program do I like? Well, I like the myHTPC frontend because of the elegance in its simplicity, because of how highly configurable it is, and needless to say because of its free price-tag. However, don't let that free price-tag fool you because the myHTPC frontend is very good even if it is still in development -- it's very good because it is highly configurable since you can include any of your TV software and other multimedia programs that you may already have. I also like Showshifter particularly when combined with DigiGuide. Nonetheless, if you want to pick only one single frontend to use, then you may want to seriously look at the highly configurable myHTPC frontend which is available for free.
With a frontend such as Marlyware's myHTPC, you can customize your own frontend for your system as a "walled garden" to safely guide your family and other users to the entertainment provided on your system without letting Windows get in the way. The "walled garden" terminology is actual real terminology used by people and analysts working in the cable and satellite TV business with regard to the immediate on-demand functions and interactive services on television. And the "walled garden" approach does make sense, but it is even better if you are the person who defines the parameters of your entertainment system's "walled garden." However, don't be surprised if hardware manufacturers, entertainment companies, networks, and content providers eventually begin to provide free frontend software with interactive guides to provide their own "walled gardens" to steer PC-TV users and Home Theater PC users to the content providers' particular channels and content.
Even if your TV Tuner card came with a remote control,
you may want to get a wireless keyboard with mouse to
control your PC-TV media entertainment system. Ruel
learned from using internet set-top boxes that you will
want a wireless keyboard in addition to a handheld
remote control to manage your PC-TV system.
And even if you already have a handheld remote control for your TV Tuner card, you may want to get a wireless keyboard with a built-in wireless mouse that you can use to really enjoy clicking away at your home theater PC-TV media entertainment center.
Happy PC-TV Watching!
Ruel
TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE MYHTPC FRONTEND
WINDOWS TO LOOK LIKE A NEWER WINDOWS VERSION
YOUR OWN PERSONAL VIDEO RECORDER
WHAT RUEL SAYS ABOUT PC-TV
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ABOUT ADDING MORE CAPACITY
TO YOUR PC-TV PVR SYSTEM
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THAN 125 CHANNELS
NOTICE: Ruel provides many free links seen on these pages. If you buy anything, your purchases would be from a linked third-party website(s). The links are for your convenience since everyone asks for suggestions about products. The products should come with their own guarantees and warranties. As for return policies, the various online vendors who are linked should have return policies -- look at the specific vendor information carefully and decide for yourself what card, device, or other product you may want to get.
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For Visiting
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